The boss of a major 海角视频 law firms has described what it was like taking over a team of 1,000 people just as Covid-19 hit.
Richard Medd was elected as managing partner at Browne Jacobson just before the pandemic, and took up the post a year ago.
He spoke to BusinessLive as the Nottingham-headquartered firm published financials showing revenues up 5 per cent in the last 12 months to a record £85 million.
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He said growth was partly helped by NHS and Covid-related contracts which included helping create two of the Nightingale hospitals, working on NHS contracts with private hospitals, and advising GKN Aerospace on the 海角视频 ventilator challenge exercise.
He said the firm’s income is split evenly between the public and private comes from the public sector and clients include Sport England, JD Sports, REAch2 Academy Trust and GLF Schools.
There are around 1,000 staff, including 650 at its main office in Nottingham’s Castle Meadow office campus, and offices in Birmingham, Manchester, Exeter and London.
Right now a question mark hangs over the future of the Nottingham office complex where it is based, which is on the market with planning permission to turn into flats, and Mr Medd said it would be good to have some clarity on the matter.
The 43-year-old said: “I started in this post right at the start of lockdown so all of my careful handover plans went right out the window.
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“I won’t pretend for a moment that it was easy – it was very stressful, but becoming a leader of a business during a global crisis means people are very receptive to change and decision-making.
“Plenty of our people would work remotely on occasion and we were well set up for it. Everyone had laptops, so it was relatively straight-forward to get everyone working from home, then it was about holding the organisation together and making sure everyone looked after themselves.
“We are still working from home, but our offices are open for people who can’t do their job from home, and we will be opening up the office again from June 21, hopefully, although taking a very flexible approach.
“We have achieved brilliant financial results in a challenging year for many businesses.
“The start of the year saw Covid impact on many parts of our business, but that also brought opportunities for us and I am delighted to say all parts of the firm ended the year very strongly.
“Looking ahead we predict more growth for 2021-22 as the country eases itself out of lockdown with our focus firmly on helping our clients navigate through very challenging times.
“For me the defining memory of the past year has been the incredible resilience, creativity and flexibility shown by our people and clients in adapting to the changing environment we found ourselves in. I couldn’t be prouder.
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“It’s has been a year that has seen us support our clients through their biggest challenges, from the NHS to the thousands of private businesses, schools and other bodies that have needed our help to guide them through the pandemic.
“This is testament to the reputation we have as trusted advisers in our key target markets and we are particularly delighted that we were able to support the pandemic response, including helping with the establishment of Nightingale hospitals and advising clients involved in the ventilator challenge.”